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Purpose: The neuropathologic mechanisms of sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) are unknown. The aim of this study was to investigate the alterations of neurovascular coupling (NVC) in patients with SSNHL and its association with hematologic inflammatory factors., Methods: The amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), fractional amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (fALFF), regional homogeneity (ReHo), and degree centrality (DC) were calculated in 48 patients with SSNHL and 54 age-, gender-, and education-matched healthy control (HC), and also utilized the arterial spin labeling imaging (ASL) to calculate cerebral blood flow (CBF). Four indices of NVC (CBF-ALFF, CBF-fALFF, CBF-ReHo, and CBF-DC) in the whole brain gray matter as well as the NVC ratio were compared between two groups. In addition, correlation analyses were performed with inflammatory factors for the NVC indexes at the global level and regional level, respectively., Results: The NVC at global level was lower in SSNHL group than in HC, except for CBF-ALFF. At the regional level, most of the brain regions with abnormal NVC in SSNHL patients involved auditory and sensorimotor language centers and limbic system compared to HC. In addition, both at the global and regional levels, NVC metrics were shown to correlate with partial inflammatory factors or hematologic parameters, including platelet-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), systemic immunoinflammatory index (SII), blood platelet count (PLT), and lymphocyte count (Lym)., Conclusion: From the view of the NVC metrics, these findings provide new perspectives on the neuropathologic mechanisms and clinical treatment of SSNHL., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2025 International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Objective: This study aimed to assess the prognostic value of early posttreatment initiation audiometry findings in patients with idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL)., Study Design: A retrospective cohort study., Setting: The study was conducted at a single tertiary medical center., Methods: A review was conducted on 299 ISSHL patients treated between 2007 and 2023. Patients underwent audiometry on Days 2 to 3 and 5 to 7 posttreatment initiation. Data on demographics, medical history, audiometry results, and prognosis were collected. Prognosis was categorized based on hearing recovery at 1 year postdiagnosis., Results: Older age, worse initial speech reception threshold (SRT), ischemic heart disease, cerebrovascular accidents/transient ischemic attacks, hypertension, and diabetes were associated with a poorer prognosis. Posttreatment initiation audiometry findings on Days 2 to 3 and 5 to 7 significantly correlated with prognosis. Patients with a ≥30% improvement had substantial or complete recovery in over 80% of cases, while those with <10% had <30% recovery. Multivariate analysis identified a significant improvement on days 5 to 7 as an independent predictor of complete recovery (odds ratio = 4.25 [95% confidence interval 1.96-9.23], P = .0002)., Conclusion: Posttreatment initiation audiometry findings, particularly on Days 5 to 7, hold significant prognostic value in ISSHL patients. A substantial improvement during this timeframe is strongly associated with favorable outcomes. These findings emphasize the potential of posttreatment initiation audiometry as a valuable tool for clinicians in counseling patients with ISSHL., (© 2024 The Author(s). Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery Foundation.)

Background: Sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) is associated with abnormal changes in the brain's central nervous system. Previous studies on the brain networks of SSNHL have primarily focused on functional connectivity within the brain. However, in addition to functional connectivity, structural connectivity also plays a crucial role in brain networks. Moreover, traditional functional connectivity analyses often overlook the spatial and temporal characteristics of connectivity changes and fail to provide directional information and causal relationships., Aims: This study utilized Structural Covariance Network (SCN), multilayer network analysis, and Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM) to investigate the cross-scale changes in neural network structure and function in SSNHL patients with accompanying cognitive and emotional disorders., Materials & Methods: We collected 3D-T1 structural magnetic resonance image data and functional magnetic resonance image data from 70 SSNHL patients and 81 healthy controls (HCs). SCN analysis was performed based on gray matter volume, and multilayer network analysis was used to calculate node switching rates. Based on the results of multilayer network analysis, six nodes exhibiting significant inter-group differences in node switching rates were selected as regions of interest (ROIs). DCM was then conducted to explore the causal relationships of functional connectivity between these nodes., Results: Based on SCN, there were no significant inter-group differences in global network properties between SSNHL and HCs. At the node level, the left precentral gyrus in SSNHL showed a significant decrease in node efficiency. In the multilayer network analysis, SSNHL showed a significantly increased node switching rate at the level of the Left Superior Frontal Gyrus (L.SFG), Left Supplementary Motor Area (L.SMA), Left Superior Parietal Gyrus (L.SPG), Right Superior Parietal Gyrus (R.SPG), Right Inferior Parietal Lobe(R.IPL), and Left Thalamus (L.THA). Furthermore, the node switching rate of L.SFG showed a significant negative correlation with the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS) scores. DCM analysis of these six nodes revealed differences in the functional effective connectivity between the left superior parietal gyrus (L.SPG) and the left supplementary motor area (L.SMA), which were positively correlated with the AVLT-delay scores., Discussion: These findings suggest that SSNHL patients experience structural and functional remodeling of the cerebral cortex, with hearing loss leading to the reallocation of cognitive resources., Conclusion: This provides new insights into understanding the potential mechanisms between cross-scale networks and cognitive-emotional disorders in SSNHL., (© 2025 The Author(s). CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objectives: Hearing recovery following idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSNHL) is influenced by various prognostic factors, and the presence of acute vestibular syndrome (AVS) may adversely impact auditory outcomes. Evaluating vestibular function in SSNHL patients could offer insights into predicting hearing recovery. This systematic review aims to assess whether the presence of AVS exacerbates the audiological prognosis of ISSNHL., Design: A comprehensive systematic review was conducted using databases such as PubMed, Cochrane Library, EMBASE, and Scopus, encompassing articles published in the last decade. Included were retrospective and prospective case-control and cohort studies, as well as randomized clinical trials. Meta-analysis was performed based on the findings from these studies., Results: Among 386 articles identified, six addressed the systematic review's question, all being retrospective studies. These articles collectively involved 393 patients for the meta-analysis. Vestibular function assessment methods varied widely, posing challenges for direct comparisons. The likelihood of unfavorable hearing outcomes was 2.29 times higher in patients with associated AVS. Hearing recovery was 3.22 times more likely to be worse in patients with altered cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potentials-air-conducted sound. Abnormal caloric test results showed no significant association with worse hearing prognosis, although patients with unaltered caloric tests demonstrated a significantly greater improvement in pure-tone audiometry., Conclusions: Hearing recovery from ISSNHL appears to be diminished in patients with associated AVS and abnormal vestibular test results., Competing Interests: The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)